Under Armour is offering NBA’s Most Valuable Player, Kevin Durant, a huge sponsorship contract to lure him away from Nike.
This might mean the end of his successful signature brand of colorful KD sneakers and full line of apparel from socks to his infamous backpacks.
According to ESPN, Under Armour will pay Kevin Durant between $265 million to $285 million over the period of 10 years to be the face of its basketball shoes segment. He currently is engaged in a seven-year deal with Nike worth $60 million.
The four-time NBA Scoring champion’s KD line is one of NBA’s best-selling sneakers, earning about $175 million last year in the US. This ranked him 2nd in terms US retail basketball shoes sales next only to LeBron James’ $300 million sales.
Matt Powell, an analyst for SportsOneSource, said Kevin Durant’s name already represents 5 percent of the market for basketball shoes and apparel.
One of the biggest questions from basketball shoes shoppers is what will happen to the price of current KD shoes if he decides to go to Under Armour.
Will Nike put them on sale to liquidate their inventory as soon as possible? The latest line, KD7, is available in three colors with a price tag of $150 on their official website.
Nike is yet to make a counter offer as of this writing. Under their contract with Kevin Durant, the shoe company has the legal rights to match any offers from competing brands.
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